


windfall

by triforced



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Humor, M/M, dumb boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 17:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6619114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triforced/pseuds/triforced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At some point, while he's awake and staring at the ceiling, he wonders what would happen if he grabbed Yamaguchi's hand and kissed the freckle on his wrist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	windfall

It's not that Tsukishima Kei isn't interested in other people. When he keeps his face impassive, feigns boredom, it's often a conscious choice to do so - except for the times when he's actually bored or disengaged, in which case his expressions are apropos. He's had a lot of practice, so it's not like anybody knows the difference.

Well, there's a small handful of people who know the difference.

Like Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi knows the difference. He knows the subtle shift that occurs when Tsukishima is actually into something as opposed to going through the motions, has known for years, about as long as they've known each other. Tsukishima isn't the transparent sort and the fact that Yamaguchi knows him well enough to spot his tells is one of the reasons he tolerates "Tsukki." There are worse nicknames, he supposes, though sometimes he wishes Yamaguchi would lay off a little bit, because he's so loud about it.

It's not that Tsukishima Kei isn't interested in other people, it's just that his interest doesn't translate well to everyday life. Not to mention he'd much rather put his headphones on and listen to music than listen to loud gossip, is what he tells himself when he turns the volume down low so he can hear the latest dish (he will take this secret to the grave, though if anybody were to think hard enough, they'd realize where he got his intel on the King from). He does have friends, acquaintances, that he will hang out with when he can. They don't razz him about his life choices or girls because they know he'll give as good as he gets, if not better - Tsukishima's arsenal is vast, indeed, and always primed.

Thing is, he doesn't really think about girls all that much. Some of them are cute, like Hitoka, some of them are pretty, like Shimizu. He acknowleges these facts for what they are: facts. Unlike his...teammates, he doesn't fluster in front of girls, doesn't blush or fumble over his words or cause a ruckus. They're people, and he treats them like he would anybody else. He doesn't think about boys all that much, either, because why would he.

Except one day at lunch he looks down and notices a freckle on the corner of Yamaguchi's wrist, right beneath the meat of his palm, by his thumb.

Tsukishima has his cheek in one hand, and his other, loosely holding chopsticks, pauses over his bento. He blinks, as if the freckle might be a figment of his imagination and disappear, though it's still there after each blink.

Huh.

"Tsukki? Hey, Tsukki! Are you even listening?"

"No," he says to Yamaguchi's betrayed face, scooping up a mouthful of rice. "I'm not. My bad. Go ahead and repeat yourself." Because that's exactly what Yamaguchi's about to do, may as well call it like he sees it.

Of course, Yamaguchi protests with a few pointed Tsukkis thrown in for good measure, as he seems to think saying someone's name over and over again will drive a point across. Not like Tsukishima discourages him, anyway.

 

***

At practice, his blocks are slightly lackluster compared to where they have been lately, though he follows through on everything he's learned. It actually irritates him, that this is an off day, and when Hinata asks him what the problem is (asks...more like shouts) he briefly contemplates punching him in the nose, though he settles for a barb instead.

"I heard you tripped over your own shoelaces this morning, Hinata. Maybe you need a few remedial lessons on how to tie your shoes, too."

Hinata flushes crimson, sputters about double knots and running too fast and something else Tsukishima doesn't catch while the others snicker - including Yamaguchi, who brings his fist up to his mouth. He's close enough that Tsukishima zeroes in on the freckle. Has he ever noticed Yamaguchi's hands before? What difference does a tiny freckle make, and why do his eyes travel back to it like a focal point, or a strong magnet? This is stupid. It's just a freckle.

"Everything okay?" Yamaguchi mouths at him, concerned, and Tsukishima waves him off, gets back into position to block. Make it through practice, and then he can leave.

Never mind Yamaguchi walks home with him every night.

Because they're friends and you do those kinds of things with your friends, you don't lose focus during volleyball practice because you're too preoccupied with a freckle on your friend's hand. The greatest mystery of the universe, a damn freckle. He ought to think about all the homework in his school bag, even though it's easy stuff he'll finish in an hour while his mother tries to make him eat a late snack.

Maybe he'll eat the snack tonight.

 

***

When there's talk about kissing, Tsukishima turns the volume up on his headphones. Fine, he does listen in on gossip, but kissing has never sparked his fancy, particularly not the way everybody carries on with the discussions, whether they're boys or girls. Today, though, today he listens to the conversation next to him, hears through the sorry excuses for hushed tones what the topic of the hour is, and he finds his finger hovering over the volume, where it ultimately fails to press down.

So.

With his lunch and Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi...) as a decoy, he listens.

"- has really soft lips."

"But did you, you know."

"What?"

"Did you - you know, use tongue?"

There's a shriek of laughter from one of the girls across the room and the boys all flinch (including Tsukishima, imperceptibly), look guilty for a second, then carry on.

"No! We just - "

"Stood there with your mouths pressed together?"

"No! I mean - shut up!"

And that's where Tsukishima tunes out, because he's had more than enough, thanks.

Yamaguchi looks up excitedly from his magazine, as if he knew when Tsukishima's attention wasn't wandering. "Tsukki!" He reaches across their desks and shoves the headphones down - Yamaguchi is the only person Tsukishima would ever allow to touch them. "Look at this!" He shoves the magazine over with his freckled hand, pointing at an article. Rather than look, Tsukishima stands abruptly.

"I'm gonna get a drink."

Too close. The freckle was too close. Their mouths, for a second, were too close. (Not really, that's why his reaction is spooking him.)

He wonders if Yamaguchi can see right through him.

 

***

After practice, at the end of the night, Tsukishima sits down in front of his computer. He rests his fingers on the keyboard. He stares at the screen for a few minutes, then a few more minutes, then a few more mintues. He makes sure his headphones are plugged in: they are. Securely. He looks over at his door: all clear. No parents, no random drop-in from his brother, who doesn't even live here anymore. He turns back to the computer screen, draws in a deep breath, and opens up his usual internet browser. He types in an address, and when the page pops up, enters search terms. He scans through the resulting video thumbnails, chooses one, and before he can talk himself out of it, clicks.

His screen is suddenly assaulted by two very large faces. Tsukishima leans back a little, out of instinct, though his eyes are more or less glued in place. The guy angles his head to the side, the girl parts her lips in anticipation. Tsukishima has enough presence of mind to make sure he doesn't do something uncool like lick his own lips or let his mouth hang open, as if he's anticipating what's about to happen, too. (He is. Kind of. Maybe.)

They move closer, and closer, and then -

He watches the kiss with clinical detachment. So you put your mouth there, the other person puts their mouth there, you move your head, you move your mouth. What about hands? Don't you have to do something with your hands? Oh. That's what you do with your hands.

And then mouths open and it gets a bit more interesting. Must be weird, having someone else's tongue in your mouth, though these guys act like there's nothing better. (They act. They are actors. This kiss is staged, it's in a script. This is why he never pays much attention to kiss scenes. Paid. Paid attention. Also because he didn't care.)

When the video ends, he shuts down his computer and goes to bed.

Tries to.

At some point, while he's awake and staring at the ceiling, he wonders what would happen if he grabbed Yamaguchi's hand and kissed the freckle on his wrist.

He slams his pillow down over his face.

The next night, he watches another video. And another, the night after that.

And so it goes.

 

***

Yamaguchi comes over on a Saturday to study. They're alone in Tsukishima's room with the door shut, blankets and pillows between them. Tsukishima's mother brought snacks in, so they won't see her again until they go down for dinner.

Normal. They've done this many times before, Tsukishima tells himself as he reads through his English assignment, while Yamaguchi taps his pencil eraser against his leg to a rythm only he can hear. The person acting like an idiot is you, so knock it off. Do your worksheet.

"Tsukki."

He glances up, to find Yamaguchi's eyes locked on his and his face close. Closer. Than it was a second ago. Really. His heart beats too fast, which is ridiculous, he's ridiculous and this situation he's put himself in is ridiculous. It's his own fault. Why did he watch so many of those videos? What possessed him? Aside from the freckle - damn that freckle to hell and back.

"What's wrong? Don't brush me off this time," Yamaguchi says quickly, when Tsukishima opens his mouth to say nothing's wrong, Yamaguchi needs to stop spacing out and focus. (Ha ha.) "Just tell me. I'm your best friend. I'll find out whether you like it or not."

Tsukishima closes his mouth. He contemplates ignoring Yamaguchi, nixes the thought. He contemplates running to the toilet, nixes that thought because it's too much of a Hinata move and he'd rather die than emulate Hinata in any fashion. Blunt honesty, then.

"You. You are what's wrong, Yamaguchi, thanks for asking."

The minute the words are out of his mouth, Yamaguchi's face crumples as if he's been punched in the gut. It lasts for all of two seconds before his eyes narrow and he crosses his arms over his chest. "Explain," he demands, bristling.

Tsukishima makes a decision. He rolls his eyes, shoots out his arm, grabs Yamaguchi's wrist, and presses his lips against the freckle.

Yamaguchi is effectively silenced. He looks like he has no idea what is happening, why it's happening, who it's happening to. His face is flushed, his mouth moves like he's going to speak but no words come out. Well, good. Good, at least that makes two of them and Tsukishima isn't alone on this roller coaster of what the actual fuck does he think he's doing.

"Tsu - kki - "

Yup. His name sure is Tsukki. Shima.

"I don't - "

"Look, you said explain, so I did. There is your explanation."

"My hand."

"Your - " A tinge of pink dusting his cheeks, Tsukishima drops Yamaguchi's hand. The one he'd just kissed. On the freckle. Why? He has no idea. Just like he has no idea what he's supposed to do next. There's no manual titled _So you just kissed your best friend's freckle, here's how you proceed!_ for him to flip through. He mirrors Yamaguchi's earlier position and crosses his arms, schools his face into a neutral expression (not hard to do). Shrugs. "It was bothering me."

Wow. Brilliant.

"My wrist was...bothering you." Yamaguchi sounds slightly hysterical. Or like he has a frog in his throat. One of the two.

"Your freckle. You've got a freckle there. Pay attention to your own body."

Stop talking.

Yamaguchi glances down at his wrist, then back up at Tsukishima. Then back down again. And back up. "I do have a freckle there." He frowns. "You kissed my freckle." His frown deepens. "You kissed. My freckle."

Tsukishima remains silent. Yes, he did, they both know he did, so he may as well keep quiet. (He's afraid more stupid words will tumble out of his mouth, digging his hole deeper.) He does not expect Yamaguchi to grab his wrist, draw it toward him and kiss it aggressively, mouth firm.

"Now we're even," he says.

That night, Tsukishima holds his wrist up to his face, stares at it a while, and rubs his nose against it. Nobody will ever know, let alone Yamaguchi.

 

***

He has seen a few of the kiss videos more than once.

There is something wrong with him.

He doesn't know how to fix himself, if he's fixable or permanently broken.

His guess is on permanently broken.

Especially when the dreams start. He is scrupulous about clean sheets; when he wakes up to sticky sheets, he thinks he's entered a new circle of hell.

 

***

Another Saturday, studying. Once again, the door is closed, pillows and blankets are between them, his mother brought snacks. His sheets are clean. Squeaky, squeaky clean. (They were not clean when he woke up.)

Tsukishima has his back against the bed, Yamaguchi is sprawled out on his stomach, a rice ball in one hand and his pencil in the other. He alternates between taking bites of the rice ball and answering questions on his worksheet. Tsukishima forces himself to look at nothing but his own worksheet, and he's succeeding in this endeavor until Yamaguchi puts his foot in Tsukishima's lap. Or. A close approximation. Of his lap.

And the crazy part is, the crazy part is, Yamaguchi keeps his foot there the entire time. Doesn't draw attention to it, doesn't make a big deal of it, just keeps his foot there, in Tsukishima's sort of lap, while Tsukishima asks himself what he's done to deserve this life. (The question goes unanswered, since his attitude alone would be reason enough to condemn him to suffering.)

\- He also drapes his hand over Yamaguchi's ankle.

That night, the dreams are so vivid he wakes up right afterward, breathing heavily, his sheets a mess, the memory of the dream Yamaguchi's fingers and his tongue still fresh in his mind.

He is permanently broken.

 

***

"You know, I think I want another kiss. A better one."

Yamaguchi drops this bomb on him like a predatory cat, sure footed and stealthy, to the point where Tsukishima scrambles to arrange his features into a semblance of calm, serene indifference. He hands Yamaguchi an apple out of the snack pile. "There. Practice on that."

After a long, heated moment, Yamaguchi tosses the apple aside, deposits himself in Tsukishima's lap. Then he takes his face between his hands and bumps their mouths together, as if they are two ships passing in the sea. When he draws back, Tsukishima stares at him, both eyebrows raised, certain there was a short circuit in his brain somewhere.

"A better kiss?"

Yamaguchi blushes. "Sh-shut up! I've never done this before!"

Because of those stupid videos, Tsukishima has an idea of what's right and what isn't. He tilts his head to the side, uses his hands to position Yamaguchi's head, and kisses him, while his insides do somersaults and his heart beats and he can't believe he's kissing Yamaguchi. The reality of a kiss is a lot different than he imagined it would be, a lot more wet and messy and they started with their mouths already open, not closed, so their teeth clack and they have to draw back and try again, but it's good, it's good, it's good -

Then Yamaguchi makes a noise, a small noise kind of like a sigh but more, and Tsukishima realizes where his hands are, on Yamaguchi's ass, and they break apart, panting, Tsukishima's glasses askew. With a shaky laugh, Yamaguchi straightens them.

"I've never done it before either," Tsukishima admits after they've gone back to staring at each other.

Yamaguchi demands to know where he learned from, then, but Tsukishima keeps mum on the subject.

 

***

He may be permanently broken, but he doesn't mind so much.

The sheets are a definite problem, however.

**Author's Note:**

> Oops here's another one. It's like a shiny new toy, someone take it away from me. :C 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed! <3


End file.
